Native Storyteller Robert Wapahi to Tell Dakota Tales Sunday

Native News Network Staff in Entertainment. Discussion »

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS – Dakota Sioux storyteller and visual artist Robert Wapahi of Chicago will present "Stories of Families," a program of traditional, historical, and true contemporary tales for all ages at 2 pm on Sunday, November 18, at Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

Wapahi will include true-life stories from the 20th century.

One of his themes will be "creating trails," Wapahi said in an interview with the Mitchell Museum. "Everybody is creating his own trail."

When Wapahi introduces traditional Dakota stories, he begins with the words "back in the time when all things spoke,"which he says is a Native equivalent of "once upon a time."

Among the traditional stories in his presentation, Wapahi will talk about "Why Trees Lose Their Leaves in the Fall" and "Why the Skunk Has Two Stripes."

Wapahi will relate a historical tale about two Native boys present at the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota.

Wapahi will tell true-life stories from the 20th century about the migration of American Indians to big cities such as Chicago and his own experiences as a US Army combat soldier in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1967.

Wapahi was born in 1945 in Springfield, South Dakota and grew up on the Santee Indian Reservation in nearby Nebraska.

Wapahi was among a select group of artists and performers invited to participate in a 2012 presentation of contemporary American Indian arts at Chicago's Cliff Dwellers club. He was a speaker at the University of Chicago's 2011 conference on urban Indian families and communities.

Wapahi's drawings and paintings have been exhibited at the Illinois State Museum galleries in Chicago and Lockport and at the American Indian Center of Chicago. He has served as president of the board of the Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center.

Admission to the event is free with Mitchell Museum admission, which is $5 for adults, $3 for children (ages 1ᆥ), students (with ID), teachers (with ID), and seniors (age 65+). Museum admission is free for Mitchell Museum members and tribal members.

The independent nonprofit Mitchell Museum is located at 3001 Central St., Evanston.

For information, phone 847.475.1030 Website Mitchell museum

posted November 14, 2012 8:10 am est